Polish Easter Traditions

Poland is a land that has a rich food tradition that was dictated by what could be grown in a cold and damp climate. Cabbage, potatoes, beets, dairy products, barley, rye, pork, and beef are all typical Polish foods. Polish people live close to the earth and want to share in the spring celebration of the Easter Holy Days. Everywhere in Polish communities on the Saturday before Easter, food is blessed by the priest. Swiecone (breakfast) sees the egg, symbol of life, broken and shared with good wishes. There is not special menu for this feast day that terminates the Lenten season, just a lot of good food. Meats in the form of long sausages, hams, loaves, roasts, and suckling pigs predominate. Decorated eggs, sauces, pastries - Babki, Dziady, Mazurki, and a great variety of sweets complete the menu. The centerpiece is a lamb molded out of butter. The butter was then pu